The team claims it needs a new training site.
The city of Jacksonville is going to hand over $60 million in taxpayers’ money to help the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan build a practice facility for the team. The Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry tweeted out after the deal was announced. “This is about commitment to excellence on the field and our city.” He did not say how the $60 million commitment is actually going to help the city’s economy or if there would be a massive creation of jobs. Chances are not much will happen because the new Sports Performance Facility, a fancy name for a training area, will house offices, equipment and training rooms that presently are located in the team’s stadium. Even the Jacksonville Jaguars ownership knows that as the team put out a news release in June when franchise officials began to lobby the city for money for the facility.
“The current space dedicated to football operations inside the stadium does not meet NFL team requirements. Creating a football performance center will allow the Jaguars team and football operations to move out of the stadium permanently, permitting stadium renovations to commence.” There is also another component, people can watch practices, presumably during training camp, buy concessions and there will be a team store selling merchandise. If any jobs are created, those jobs will likely be part time and at a minimum wage. There will be some community use allowed at the field, probably during February, March and into April. Shad Khan’s franchise does not play a full series of home games in Jacksonville as the team plays annually in London, England. Khan’s Jacksonville lease is done in 2029 and by that point the stadium will be at the end of its functional economic life at the age of 34. Next up for Khan’s business is getting a new stadium.
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